The present disclosure is generally related to medical devices useable in the human body. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to steerable introducers, catheters or other medical devices capable of facilitating delivery of and/or access of other medical devices therethrough.
Catheters are used for an ever-growing number of procedures. For example, catheters are used for diagnostic, therapeutic, and ablative procedures, to name just a few examples. Typically, the catheter is manipulated through the patient's vasculature and to the intended site, for example, a site within the patient's heart or other organ. The catheter may carry one or more electrodes, which may be used for ablation, diagnosis, or the like. Such medical devices may instead or additionally facilitate the delivery of other devices to targeted locations within the body.
To facilitate placement of catheters or other medical devices at a location of interest within the patient, it may be introduced through another catheter, often referred to as a “guiding catheter,” “introducer catheter” “introducer,” “sheath,” or the like, and the terms may be used interchangeably herein. Generally speaking, an introducer generally refers to a tube that may be used to place other catheters or medical devices into specific areas of the body. In some cases, the introducers may be steerable, and used to place catheters and/or other medical devices that have little or no directional control, into specific areas of the patient's body.
Generally, an introducer would have an overall outside diameter small enough to negotiate blood vessels or other anatomy while retaining an inner diameter (“bore size”) large enough to accommodate the medical device therethrough. Furthermore, since the path within the patient may be long, tortuous, and/or involve intricate placement of another medical device(s), maneuverability via steering the introducer may be particularly beneficial. Steerability may involve steering mechanisms, that can be difficult to manufacture while maintaining desired yields.